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Matt Randall

@randallphysics.bsky.social
469 followers 186 following 61 posts

Science and engineering teacher. #iTeachPhysics #iTeachChem #ModPhys #ModChem

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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
This is making me re-think how I’ve used competition in the past, especially as it relates to Project Based Learning. I’m wondering what the targets can look like in other contexts. 15” ended up being challenging enough that almost every team needed multiple iterations, but also doable for most.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“Great job meeting the target” and the encourage them to make it even taller. Everyone kept going, and I genuinely had more successful and creative designs. This also lead to a great opportunity to talk about intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation the next day, which relates to other work in class.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Instead of having one winning team and lots of failure (competition wise and trying to build things that don’t work at all), teams worked together much more happily and overall had way better results. Almost no one met the target (15”) on their first try. Once they did, I would tell them…
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I am reading Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn and was convinced to change one of my beginning of the year activities get rid of the competition aspect (building a spaghetti tower to support a marshmallow). Instead of framing it as a competition, I set a target for success. It went great.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
That’s awesome!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
from elementary to middle to high. Teaching MS for the first time, there are some things I’m teaching that I think they surely must know at this point (because HSers did), but they don’t. I makes me appreciate that as a HS teacher the MS teachers were helping students develop this and came ready.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Thanks, and I agree. I’m in a new district and we don’t really do any vertical collaboration. I’ve been participating in a the Washington State Fellows Network this year and we’ve been reading the a book about the DCI. It’s been really interesting to read about how each NGSS standard progresses…
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
The Modeling Chem mass and change lab, red/blue food coloring in hot/cold water, icy hot lab, and electrolysis of water are really great to introduce these ideas in middle school. I think it’s more important Ss think of the world as made of particles than detailed knowledge of the Periodic Table.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
understanding basic chemical formulas/formula units (H2O, CO2, NaCl), and understanding that different chemicals have different macroscopic properties. Familiarizing students with the periodic table as a chart that has info about the properties of different elements fits, but that’s the scope.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Former High School, current Middle School science teacher: The NGSS chemistry standards for middle school do not include the periodic table (at least, not as a way of organizing the elements based on properties). MS chem goals are understating the particle nature of matter (as in phase changes)…
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
I haven’t experienced this yet, mine are still young, but I’ve thought a lot about this. It seems like a hard balance to know when to talk to the teacher if their practices seem off.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
One or the other :) There are pros and cons for each.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
This is great! What other books are on your list?
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Thanks! This is a great summer project for me.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Also, do you cut your own handles in the boards? If so, how did you do it?
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
That looks great! I have a co-worker who wants to start using whiteboards and wants stands too. This looks very doable, thanks for the pics!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Does anyone have a design for a whiteboard stand made out of PVC (for 24”x32” boards)? I think I remember someone posting this on the old site. #iteachphysics
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
St my first school, I co-led a group we called the “3 minute observation club.” Each week we took turns observing in one another’s classrooms for 3 minutes with a specific prompt, and then talked about what we saw and what it made us think about our own teaching at lunch. It was awesome.
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Reposted by Matt Randall
Flipping Physics @flippingphysics.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
I have a platform. It may be small, however, I still feel compelled to use it. youtu.be/RGPF-BzWxCc #PhET #NSFgrants #physicseducation
youtu.be
How PhET is Being Hurt by Funding Cuts
YouTube video by Flipping Physics
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
Thank you for sharing this!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
I had a co-worker share AI responses to the reflection questions for our evaluation process, encouraging others to consider that use of AI. I now put a disclaimer that I didn’t use AI on the writing I do for our evaluation process.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
That’s good feedback. I got to participate in updating the Patterns Chemistry curriculum last year. There are a lot of great people making cool improvements each year.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
I had such a good experience working at a district where we adopted Patterns for our 9-11 science program, were trained in it together, had a lot of alignment between courses, and used teaching practices to meet the NGSS. I’m trying to advocate for something similar in my new district.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
I moved back to WA this year. In my new district, our main track, by design, has 2 years of Physical Science where the second year is a near duplicate of the first. The reasoning I’ve heard is similar to yours, there is concern that the majority of students can’t pass a standard chem class.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
I spent my last 3 years teaching in Oregon and can confidently day that most of the state has a high school sequence that makes meeting the NGSS a priority (more than 2/3 of the H.S students are in schools that use the Patterns Curriculum).
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
It sounds like this may be past, but I think the argument is that it is still our responsibility (and also a worthy goal) for our teaching and learning to meet the NGSS standards.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Many school districts map out the performance expectations over a 3 year sequence. I believe districts have to pass an audit for this. I’ve never taught forensics, but my guess is that it’s more of a cool elective course and might be less about ensuring that the whole of the NGSS are addressed.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Do students take courses that adequately address the NGSS standards? Does your school district map the NGSS performance expectations to the courses students take, to make sure the whole set of standards are being addressed?
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
I’ve also seen the transformative nature of having a high quality curriculum (Modeling, Patterns) on teachers. Having a great starting point is a game changer. But if it’s overly scripted, it’s really confining. (Sorry if this was long, this is my teaching life right now).
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
One benefit of this curriculum is that someone with very little background/understanding of science teaching could do about the same job as someone who does. It’s hard to see how disheartening it is. I supposed there could be good scripted curriculum, but this isn’t it.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
I am at a new school this year. We have a highly scripted curriculum (Amplify Science). Everyone hates it. There are teachers counting the days until they retire with no hope of change. I am re-writing the lessons to make them more engaging, while still following the curriculum, it’s a huge lift.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Ugghh. Gut punch.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
I was not expecting the second sentence. Cool!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Good point!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Have you made any adaptations to make it align better with NGSS? I’m a lifelong modeler and recently started using the Patterns Curriculum. It has a lot of the same strategies as modeling, such as paradigm labs and data discussions, but also taught me a lot about how to address the NGSS.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
I used speaker notes for a long time but so many students didn’t use them, even with lots of explicit instruction. So many times: “Ohhh, that’s where the instructions are!”, even after I showed multiple times. I like the text around the sides much better.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Good tip! I’ve also learned from a colleague to add instructions, sentence starters, and links in the empty space outside of each slide as text boxes. Easy for students to see while working and then are hidden in Slideshow mode. This has been a gamechanger for me.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Hello Howie!
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Reposted by Matt Randall
Simon Poliakoff @simonpoliakoff.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
This series of demonstrations with the infrared camera are really good for getting students to write explanations using the key terms absorb, reflect and transmit. Worked well in class just before half term. #SciTeachUK #ITeachPhysics youtu.be/iE0ajDN9848
youtu.be
Five great demonstrations with an infrared camera to teach the terms absorb, transmit and reflect
YouTube video by Physics with Simon Poliakoff
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Thanks!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Thank you!
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
I bought a copy through my local bookstore and it’s in back order. Happy to see this be so popular, and I’m enjoying the new podcasts.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
@timvillegas.com mentions that the phrase “students with special needs” is problematic. I would love to know more about this. Is there something Tim has written or one of the Think Inclusive podcast episodes where this is addressed? I’ve searched for this but haven’t found it yet.
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Reposted by Matt Randall
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 15/02/2025
This excellent interactive tutorial on misleading data visualizations explores the idea of a "counter chart" — the graph you draw in response to refute a misleading claims flowingdata.com/projects/dis...
flowingdata.com
Defense Against Dishonest Charts
This is a guide to protect ourselves and to preserve what is good about turning data into visual things.
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Reposted by Matt Randall
Dr Dan Jones @hookean.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Did the classic conduction ice melting demo this afternoon, with the InfiRay camera #iTeachPhysics 🎢 www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2g_...
youtube.com
Classic Heat Conduction Demo in Infrared! #physics
YouTube video by Hookean Physics
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
If you stop taking antibiotics, the most resistant will start replicating again. You risk getting sicker and also “creating” bacteria that are resistant to that antibiotic.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
When you start taking antibiotics, there are a lot of bacteria in your body with genetic variation and different strength. Each day you take antibiotics, more die. You often will feel much better after a few days, but at that point, it’s the strongest/most resistant that are left.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I love this problem but it is also an odd feeling. I’ve experienced doing post-lab discussions in science. Patterns Science has strategies to democratize post-lab data discussions in ways that are really effective and where I wasn’t needed as much. It was cool but I also missed being a central part.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Also, as a parent of a neurodivergent child with real support needs, it’s sickening to hear it trivialized. This is probably not intended by the original statement, but it is the effect.
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Matt Randall @randallphysics.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Totally agree. Saying “we all have ADHD” minimizes the real, diagnosable disability that affects many. Horrifyingly, the director of special education in my current district said basically this exact thing at our new staff training this year.
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